This thesis addresses the history, modus operandi and effects of what is currently called in Brazil ‘’integrative urbanization’’, a type of state intervention in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas (slums). It is the most recent attempt to solve the already ancient ‘’problem of the favela’’. Its main aims are technical and legal upgrading: new public infrastructure, consolidation of existing buildings, granting of land rights for dwellers, and enforcement of public regulations. It is officially presented as an asserted way of ending the exclusion that plagued favela-dwellers for the last century.
The analysis is based on an ethnographical account of the PAC-Favelas, a state-funded program launched in 2008 and implemented in the Rocinha favela. It is argued that integrative urbanization constitutes a form of security apparatus, thus aimed at governing the conduct of the favela population. Its main objectives are the formalization of practices, enhancement of resources circulation, alteration of residents’ perceptions, limitation of the favela’s risks and excesses, and planning of future interventions.
Practically speaking, it means for the State to proceed in a legitimated and indirect selection (following technical, legal or economic logics) of the now-acceptable individuals and practices on the urbanized territory. Available space grows scarcer; control is enhanced and living costs skyrocket. While partially profiting the established members of the community, it seems to destabilize newcomers, marginal and less fortunate ones, progressively pressuring them into quitting the favela. To urbanize Rocinha is a way to force its gentrification, in order to make it more secure, civilized and profitable.